Merchant Ship Names in the 13th-15th centuries

by Sara L. Uckelman
known in the SCA as Aryanhwy merch Catmael

I recently started researching names of ships because ships are one of the models upon which a household name can be constructed. At the moment, the only good article on ships names that is available online is Maridonna Benvenuti's "Ship Names from 1480-01", though at the moment I know of at least one other herald who is working on putting together an in-depth article on 16th- and early 17th-century English ship names.

The data I'm working from comes from three sources: Customs accounts from the port of Exeter 1266-1321 (1), port records from Cornwall 1337-56 (2), and customs accounts from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1454-1500 (3). While most of the ships that came into these ports were English, there were also a number of ships from ports in France, the Netherlands, and Germany listed in the records, with French ships showing up more frequently in the Exeter and Cornwall data, and the Dutch and German ships occurring primarily in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne data.

What is interesting is that despite a range of over two centuries and four countries, the names of the ships are remarkably homogeneous. This makes it easy to recommend patterns of ship names to follow when choosing a good medieval name for your merchant ship, regardless of when or where it was from. (4)

There are five main categories of names in the data I've studied:

Names of Saints and Religious References

Naming your boat after a saint, the Virgin Mary, or some other religious reference was the most popular method. Examples include:

Ship's name

Home port

Date

Source

la Seynte Marie

Romney

1286

1

la halop de Seynt Nicholas (5)

1288

1

le Nostre Dame

Exmouth

1289

1

la Seinte Cruz

Portsmouth

1298

1

le gogge Seint Thomas (5)

Dartmouth

1298

1

la Christismasse

Exmouth

1304/5

1

Seint Gylys cog

Sidmouth

1304/5

1

la Trinite

Teignmouth

1312/13

1

la Nunne

Studlan

1312/13

1

la Gracedieux

Fowey

1339/40

2

Seynte Mariecog

Winchelsea

1339/40

2

Seint Saveriscogge

1341/42

2

Seintespirit

Bordeaux

1351/52

2

Halygast

Camfer

1465/66

3

Jesus

Amsterdam

1465/66

3

Godisgrace

Gosford

1465/66

3

the Saint Ive

Groy

1494/95

3

the Grace de Dew

Bullon

1494/95

3

Names of Women

Next most popular was naming your ship after a woman; in some cases, these may also fall under the above, where the ship is in fact being named after a saint, but the appellation "saint" is not included as part of the name. Margaret, Katherine, and Mary and various forms of these were by far the most popular choices.

Ship's name

Home port

Date

Source

la Bon An

Exmouth

1302/3

1

la Maudelyn

Kingston-upon-Hill

1312/13

1

la Margerie

Yarmouth

1315/16

1

la Alisceote

Dartmouth

1315/16

1

la Cristiane

Weymouth

1341/42

2

le Jowanet

Kingswear

1344/45

2

Margeret

Dieppe

1344/45

2

la Katerine

Youghal

1350/51

2

Margaret

Bullen

1465/66

3

le Mary Aleyn

Newcastle

1488/89

3

the Mare Hayrbred

Newcastle

1494/95

3

the Katren

Dieppe

1494/95

3

the Barbara

Bullon

1494/95

3

Names of Men

Less popular (but with a wider range of different names) was naming your ship after a man; again, some of these may actually represent saint's names without the appellation "saint" as part of the name of the ship.

Ship's name

Home port

Date

Source

la Nicholas

Ringmore

1305/06

1

la Lowys

Abbeville

1310/11

1

le Peres

Sidmouth

1317/18

1

le Michel

Exmouth

1317/18

1

Cog John

Polruan

1338/39

2

la Petur

Poole

1339/40

2

Cog Thomas

Bristol

1341/42

2

le Jorge

Lostwithiel

1341/42

2

James

Camfer

1465/66

3

Gerome

Brell

1465/66

3

Cristofur

Dordrecht

1465/66

3

Barlamew

Stonos

1465/66

3

Names Describing the Ship

This category is substantially more amorphous than the others. In this category I've included names that appear to either describe the ship or to invoke some abstract virtue (perhaps meant to describe the ship's purpose or disposition?)

Ship's name

Home port

Date

Source

la Blythe

Hook

1312/13

1

la Rodecog

Teignmouth

1316/17

1

la Charytee

St Valéry

1316/17

1

le Vertbois

Le Vivier

1317/18

1

la Margarete called Langbord

Exmouth

1317/18

1

le Plente

Hook

1318/19

1

la Welyfare (6)

Lyme

1319/20

1

le Blythe

Weymouth

1341/42

2

le Petit Nief

St Malo

1344/45

2

la Constance (7)

Dartmouth

1351/52

2

le Brodhenric

Danzig

1488/89

3

Other

Lastly, I have a catchall category, for all the names that don't fit neatly into any category. Within this catchall category are two subdivisions:

Flora & Fauna

Ship's name

Home port

Date

Source

la Hynde

Ipswich

1310/11

1

le Lyon

Lymington

1316/17

1

le Whal

Polruan

1344/45

2

le Cok (8)

1349/50

2

le Rose

Gloucester

1353/54

2

Horse

Gow

1465/66

3

Olifant

Gowe

1465/66

3

Lilly

Gow

1472

3

the Egle

Dieppe

1499/1500

3

Other other

Ship's name

Home port

Date

Source

le Messager

Orford

1315/16

1

le Godyer

Teignmouth

1317/18

1

la Goudbiyete

Fowey

1338/39

2

le Faucon Dieu

Fowey

1346/47

2

la Savoye

Fowey

1350/51

2

Waynepayn

Harwich

1353/54

2

le Portour

Weymouth

1353/54

2

Welcum to Husse

1481

3

le World

Gow

1472

3

le Glasse

Gow

1472

3

Concluding Notes

There are two things I want to note in summary, as I must keep this from getting too much longer. First is that it's interesting to note that almost all of the ships in the "other" category are not English, and also that many of the really unusual names are ships whose home port is Gow (for source 3) or Fowey (source 2); I have no idea if this is significant or not. The second is a point about gender: While modernly all ships are feminine, this does not appear to have been the case during these centuries. Not only do you find both le (masculine) and la (feminine) used when naming ships, you'll also find ships with feminine names using the masculine article, and vice versa. Now there's gender equality for you!

References & Footnotes

(1) Kowaleski, Maryanne, ed. & trans., The local customs accounts of the port of Exeter, 1266-1321 (Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 1993.)

(2) Kowaleski, Maryanne, ed., "Havener's Accounts of the Duchy of Cornwall, 1337-1356" in The havener’s accounts of the earldom and duchy of Cornwall, 1287-1356 (Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 2001.)